Taro valley

The Taro valley takes its name from the river that cuts it through, coming from the mountain Penna to end as a tributary of the Po river.It borders on the South with Liguria and Toscana and it's surroudned by the mountains: Penna (1735), Zuccone (1423), Scassella (1228), Gottero (1640) and Molinatico (1549).Through the pass of Bocco and the pass Centocroci, the valley links the the provinces of Parma and Liguria and through the pass Cisa and the pass Brattello with the Toscana region.

Back in time there were many communication roads in the valley, that allowed pilgrims to reach Rome, for example the Way of the Abbots (from the 7th century to the year 1000) used by the abbots of San Colombano of Bobbio to keep in touch and control their estates in the North of Italy until the Toscana and the Pilgrims way, the most famous, that in the Middle age linked Canterbury to Rome along the valley from Noceto to the pass Cisa.

The Taro valley includes the villages of Albareto, Bedonia, Borgo Val di Taro, Compiano, Fornovo di Taro, Solignano, Tornolo and Valmozzola, part of Berceto and Terenzo, tall in the province of Parma, and a part of the villages Borzonasca, in the province of Genova (Giaiette) and Varese Ligure, in the province of La Spezia (Pelosa) in the Liguria region.

In the highest part of the valley lie beautiful villages as Santa Maria del Taro (Tornolo), a few kilometers from the Ligure sea, reachable through the Pass Bocco and a little bit further away there is Tarsogno, famous as the land of mushrooms. Moreover there is also the Landi castle in Compiano, located on a steep hill, on the left of the river.The Taro valley is an ideal palce for the holidays on the Appennines, with its many trekking routes, the good healthy air and its gastronomy.